Strike Vote Weaker Than Expected

AUFA conducted their strike vote and the results are in. The email from AUFA to faculty states “The AUFA executive is pleased to report that we have received a clear mandate from the membership, with 81.1% of voters voting to authorize the executive to call a strike if necessary”. This is technically correct, but the numbers received by the Ath would indicate that there is far less support for a strike than you would think.

While 81.1% of voters cast a ballot in favour of a strike, 18.4% of the bargaining unit did not vote. According to AUFA, an unused ballot is counted as a no vote. That means only 66.2% of faculty actually voted for a strike. While this number seems high, it also indicates a significant part of the faculty either does not want to strike or did not take the time to cast a ballot.

This is an important step in the negotiations for the Union, with the executive now authorized to implement a strike (although this vote does not mean a strike will occur imminently). I imagine an agreement will be reached very quickly. The Ath did not reach out to either the ASU or the Board of Governors for comment.